During a recent SEC cryptocurrency roundtable on June 9, 2025, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins voiced strong support for individuals' rights to self-custody their digital assets, emphasizing that forced intermediaries create unnecessary costs and hinder blockchain innovation. Atkins framed decentralized finance (DeFi) as aligned with core American values of private property rights and open markets, describing blockchains as peer-to-peer networks enabling ownership without central control.
He directed SEC staff to review and potentially amend existing regulations to better accommodate DeFi platforms and on-chain financial systems. This initiative includes exploring conditional exemptions to facilitate compliant decentralized protocols' smoother market entry. Atkins criticized previous regulatory stances that discouraged participation through enforcement actions against staking and validation services. He referenced clarifications made by the SEC Division of Corporation Finance that routine staking activity does not constitute securities activity but noted current guidance lacks the power of formal rulemaking.
Atkins called for durable, formal policies enacted via notice-and-comment rulemaking rather than informal statements or litigation. He advocated for regulatory adjustments allowing intermediaries to migrate settlement and clearing processes to blockchains, aiming to reduce friction and improve market liquidity. The chairman also proposed an "innovation exemption" granting conditional relief to firms developing on-chain products, promoting experimentation within a clear regulatory framework.
This leadership approach signals a shift toward reduced regulatory friction for blockchain developers and users while maintaining investor protections. The roundtable underscored the importance of safeguarding individual control over private keys and reinforcing self-custody consistent with property rights principles. Atkins’ directives suggest future SEC actions will embrace blockchain-native technologies and support the growth of decentralized finance in the United States.